Todd (and others opposed to 1 or 2 minute extended bidding times),
This is an example where modern technology has corrupted our cultural
philosophy. Letting the sniper programs battle it out in the last
micro-seconds behind the scenes where no one can see what is going on is
just fine if you don't care about the concept of public auctions being a
level playing field where everyone bidding has the opportunity to keep
bidding after a higher bid has trumped their own. But that is exactly
how things are done at live auctions. Why shouldn't it work that way for
internet auctions? Just because Ebay never did it that way?
I *like* sniper programs and use them. I do agree that it is a good
thing if the auction house cannot see your maximum bid -- no temptation,
no potential conflict of interest and no foul. That's one of the big
positive aspects of sniping programs. And, as you say, it's great that
you don't have to sit at the computer with your fingers glued to the
mouse counting down those last seconds.
But we all know that one's theoretical "maximum bid" is not always writ
in stone. Have you never adjusted your maximum snipe bid as the auction
was nearing its close and you saw how the bidding was going and decided
that maybe your original maximum might not be quite enough? I certainly
have.
If someone has enough money to place extremely high maximum sniper bids
on anything they want and so virtually guarantee they will win 99% of
what they bid on... well that's very nice for them, isn't it? But most
of us -- even those who do use sniper programs like myself -- don't have
that luxury and we should be able to see what the last bid is and decide
(quickly) if we want to try to outbid or not. Fair is fair.
-- JR
Todd Spoor wrote:
To All,
I really don't see the point of extended bidding, if you put in the
MAXIMUM you want to spend in the first place, if you get outbid in the
last second, so what, you weren't going to spend more than that
anyways!!! Sniping is a great way to enter a Maximum bid and NOT have
to watch the auction especially if it closes at an odd time or if you
are at work. I win 99% of every auction I bid because of sniping plus
the AUCTION HOUSE can not see my maximum bid!!!
Todd Spoor
-----Original Message-----
From: James Richard
Sent: Sep 28, 2009 4:05 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage
Auction
Grey,
How is extended bidding a waste of time? If no last second bid
comes in, then the auction closes as scheduled. If a last second
bid does come in, automatically extending the auction's end time
by maybe 2 minutes gives other bidders who want the item a chance
to trump the last-second bid. Hardly a waste of their time if it
means they win and auction they otherwise would have lost -- and
both Heritage and the consigner make more money.
Where's the downside?
I do think the implementation of extended bidding at
emovieposter.com is too broad. I think in that case that if a bid
comes in during the last 5 minutes the end time is extended by 5
minutes -- since lots of people prefer to place a bid in the last
couple of minutes, parameters like that *do* tend to waste
people's time. To work more efficiently, parameters should
probably be 1 or 2 minutes. An extra 2 minutes isn't going to
bother someone -- not if they really want the poster -- and it
puts everyone on a level playing field whether they are using
gavelsnipe.com or not.
-- JR
Smith, Grey - 1367 wrote:
Hi, John.
Well, the email was supposed to go private but my mistake.
Yes, many snipe bid on the site now.
In fact, as you are aware, we end all items at 10PM CT every
Sunday evening, so many prefer not to have to sit by the computer.
My belief is that the extended bidding platform is a waste of our
bidder's time, though one of our other divisions does use it.
Grey
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